New 5 Years Visas For Long Term Residents

[Richard Hall]

Was at Immigration on Soi Suan Plu in person this morning and had a print out of the article of Pattaya Today in my bag.

First I looked for any new postings on the first floor but in vain. Approached the information desk and discussed the subject in Thai with the officer there. She indicated that there have been already about ten people raising this subject this morning but mentioned that there was no spread of information from up to down that there has been a meeting and decision as to 5 year extension permits. Well, there is the old residence visa option after being in the country on three consecutive annual extensions but that's pretty much it.

Pulled out the copy of the article that even featured the photo of that Pattaya Immigration Officier and she read it with great interest but certainly also astonishment. One should expect if a new regulation about visa and extension permits is put into effect the information desk at Immigration on Soi Suan Plu should be one of the the first places to be informed about it.

Anyway, the officer got the idea what all this excitement is about upon reading the story and thanked me for handing her over the copy. She also argued if such a crucial adjustment of visa laws is made one should expect it is to be published by the Post and the Nation first rather than Pattaya Today. Can well imagine that it is not going to take long until there will be an official reaction and announcement by Immigration headquarters because the message is already in the house.

[Potter]

I mentioned the name of the colonel quoted in the article and they never heard of him either!!      

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think this says it all. Happy Easter to all of us!

[teacher]

I heard this news two weeks ago and was as happy as most of all the other farangs who have to do visa runs.

But dont go jumping up and down just yet.

From the same person came the bad news, THE COST.

My guess is the elite card has not worked out as they would have hoped. So they need to try something else to compensate for the downfall in turnover.

Also, because they have expressed they have the quantity of tourist visiting Thailand and are now looking for quality farangs to stay here could ring true.

"Hearsay only" but from a reliable source.

200,000bt for 5 years. With a reduction of 100,000 for married farangs.

[Tornado]

Yippee

3yrs already

thai spouse

work permit

business

fingers crossed

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Im with ya Dave, great news!

Oh , I just read Richards post - ??? oh dear, jumped up and hit my head for nothing???

Edited December 17, 2004 by Tornado

[Sunny Valentine]

I mentioned the name of the colonel quoted in the article and they never heard of him either!!      

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think this says it all. Happy Easter to all of us!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Spoke to a long time farang resident last night and showed him the article (the Original, with Foto of the Colonel). He told me he knows this man in Person.

Well, I guess if someone gives me a Dollar for each and every time some high ranking Officer at an Immigration Offices announces something publicly, and other high ranking Officers of the same or different Offices saying they don't know about it, I would be, well, not rich maybe, but well situated.

Same has happened recently with 10000 Bt border requirements, with the rumors about Border runners will be stopped, with the grandfathering of the 200000 Bt rule for Non-O Married Visas, and on and on. You name a change (for good or bad) in Visa rules, you find a high ranking Officer or 2 or 10 who say they have not heard it.

Let's play the game the Thai way: Wait and see.

Sunny

[george]

I mentioned the name of the colonel quoted in the article and they never heard of him either!!       

Strange!

According to http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/

Police Colonel Ittipol Ittisarnronnachai is the Pattaya Superintendent of Immigration.

A Google search on his name says Khun Ittipol is the head of Pattaya Immigration:

5. November 2004

Pattaya’s mass media association was out in force to welcome the new head of the Pattaya immigration service, police colonel Ittipol Iteisarnronnachai, who took up his duties in mid October. He told the representatives of the press that he had transferred from Sri Racha, where he had been lieutenant colonel, and was looking forward very much to his new duties.

Police colonel Ittipol said he would do his best to create a peaceful and quiet environment for the farangs who had chosen the resort as their long term destination. However, he knew that a small minority of foreigners were determined criminals and he would be bringing the full force of the law to bear on them. He added that his own officers agreed with him that the immigration bureau’s main function was to protect tourists as well as enforcing the country’s immigration laws.

Police colonel Ittipol studied at police college before attending higher education courses in the United States where he gained qualifications in public administration and investigatory law enforcement. He was initially a policeman in Bangkok before transferring to the immigration bureau in Ranong and later Sri Racha. Police colonel Ittipol is in receipt of two distinguished service orders for his professional work. He was promoted colonel to be superintendent at Pattaya immigration at the early age of 37.

Edited December 17, 2004 by george

[Axel]

Agree, wait and see.

As for not knowing the gentleman, makes sense to me. In Bangkok HEADOFFICE, t hey not even heard of Pattaya.

[IsaanAlex]

In over ten years experience in-and-out of Thailand, I've never once been under the impression that any of the Thai authorities were looking for a way to provide foreigners with a quick and easy alternative to Permanent Residence.

Have they proposed this Visa before?

In any case..it benefits the Thais more than anyone, if only for the fact that it takes people off the 'citizenship stream', (at least the one available, more in theory than anything else, via the Permanent Residence route).

And there is no substance in Thailand; any farang who rejoices and belives in any sense that such a change would bring Thailand in line with developed countries is delusional, so totally downtrodden that every moment their not being repeatedly kicked in the head feels like heaven to them, or just..a serious glue huffer.

My wife joined me in Canada and after 4 years in the country got citizenship for life; she is equal to me in every way-as is the case with other countries like the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc

She can own land, vote has access to all government services, has permanent right to abode (######, she's a stakeholder, i.e. part 'owner' of the 'company', so that's not a surprise...).

In Thailand, a farang is a dog.

He can live with his Thai wife and 2 Thai kids, but is the perpetual puppet (or rather muppet).

IA

Edited December 17, 2004 by IsaanAlex

[Felt 35]

New 5 Years Visas For Long Term Residents

What`s in the cards!

If they can get more money in to the Country, well then it will come.

If less "daler", well forget it.

[sas_cars]

In Thailand, a farang is a dog.

He can live with his Thai wife and 2 Thai kids, but is the perpetual puppet (or rather muppet).

IA

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I whole heartedly agree.Thais doesn't believe in internationalisation,rather,they believe in nationalism.

[sriracha john]

(deleted)

Edited December 17, 2004 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

but no one at the Pattaya Office knows anything about it. I mentioned the name of the colonel quoted in the article and they never heard of him either!!

AHHHHH.... well, there you go... it was a nice dream while it lasted....

hmmm... then read George's post that he is the boss there..... ROFL, they never heard of their boss.... gotta luv thailand

Edited December 17, 2004 by sriracha john

[Rinrada]

In over ten years experience in-and-out of Thailand, I've never once been under the impression that any of the Thai authorities were looking for a way to provide foreigners with a quick and easy alternative to Permanent Residence.

Have they proposed this Visa before?

In any case..it benefits the Thais more than anyone, if only for the fact that it takes people off the 'citizenship stream', (at least the one available, more in theory than anything else, via the Permanent Residence route).

And there is no substance in Thailand; any farang who rejoices and belives in any sense that such a change would bring Thailand in line with developed countries is delusional, so totally downtrodden that every moment their not being repeatedly kicked in the head feels like heaven to them, or just..a serious glue huffer.

My wife joined me in Canada and after 4 years in the country got citizenship for life; she is equal to me in every way-as is the case with other countries like the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc

She can own land, vote has access to all government services, has permanent right to abode (######, she's a stakeholder, i.e. part 'owner' of the 'company', so that's not a surprise...).

In Thailand, a farang is a dog.

He can live with his Thai wife and 2 Thai kids, but is the perpetual puppet (or rather muppet).

IA

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

aw.. C" mon now here

Canada like U.S.-UK-E.U.-Aus-Nz.- are FIRST world countries with balanced,secure,stable,democratic mult-cultural-racially mixed and prosperous backgrounds and economies, while albiet Thailand is developing and forward looking,its still a THIRD world country/economy with different traditions,social orders,values and expectations that that of the west.

Vivre la dif-fer-once

Gotta give them time

[khunken]

The Suan Phlu Immigration people don't seem to have been brought into the loop. I renewed my 1-year retirement visa on Wednesday (15th) & discussed future changes with an officer. He mentioned that, next year, a requirement for a medical certificate may come into force.

Nothing about a 5-year visa. Still, it sounds hopeful, and, with the 5-year driving licences, it does have an air of consistency about it.

Keep us posted, Mr Webmaster, please.

[lukamar]

If True or Untrue one thing is for certain. The Thai Immigration authorities now know, if they did not before that there are a large portion of the Farang population or future population that is indeed interested in some sort of long term Visa. Today almost 7000 people have read this thread of the forum in 24 hours.

Maybe it is time to take some proactive role as stated in another thread and to see if we can change the mindset of the immigration minister. If we all sent a polite postal letter to the exact same person at the exact same address in the government asking the exact same thing over the next 1 or 2 months them I think we could make an impression. Or at least set the seed of thought. I'm sure that if i got 7000 letters I'd wonder what i should do , Emails are easy to delete, but paper is handled differently by the Thai authorities. So someone know an address..

I posted a question on the Immigration Division 3 News Board and this was a reply by someone I do not know FYI....

"Apparently the Pattaya Today article was misleading. The Police Colonel was talking to the group about the process of applying for permanent residence permits, I am told by Pattaya Immigration.

Because of the confusion, I decided to check with Pattaya Immigration, and was referred to the lady officer sitting directly in front of the head of the unit. She advised me that there is no "new 5 year visa program", only the Permanent Residency program which is open for applicants only between December 15 and 31st of each year. Under this program, one can apply, but only at the main Bangkok Immigration office. Soi Suan Plu, where all applications must be filed.

The fee for applying, non refundable, is 7,600 baht; the fee if the permit is granted is 191,400 baht, but with a Thai spouse, only 95,700 baht is required.

This is not a new program, as suggested by the Pattaya Today story, but one available only during the last half of December each year.

Apparently, there is nothing "new" about this permit application process, and no great new opportunity for farang to get a long term visa easily."

She can own land, vote has access to all government services, has permanent right to abode (######, she's a stakeholder, i.e. part 'owner' of the 'company', so that's not a surprise...).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Alex you forgot to mention that as soon as she cleared immigration she could work, go buy a chunk of land so she could build her dream house as well as everything else you have stated. I'd also mention that the process of immigrating to Canada is also time consuming, stressful and the costs add up but once our wifes have it and Canadian Citizenship it really frees up your options in regard to Thailand.

[lukamar]

I have contacted the Royal Thai Consulate in Vancouver and ask for a postal address to send letters to; but have not received any information back at this point.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I have contacted the Royal Thai Consulate in Vancouver and ask for a postal address to send letters to; but have not received any information back at this point.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Royal Thai Consulate-General

1040 Burrad Street

Vancouver BC V6Z 2R9

Tel (604) 687 1143

[lukamar]

Thanks Dr pat i have that one. I ask for the address of the Prime minister..

[sriracha john]

Mailing Address:

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra

Office of the Prime Minister

Government House, Dusit

Bangkok 10300

Thailand

[ray23]

If I undstand the permaneant residency there are only 100 a year issued, is that correct?

[camerata]

Wait and see. Checked with Immigration office in Bangkok this morning.

They have no information on this.

If it is true, I hope it is, wonder what this means:

Applications have to lodged in the second half of December 2004. Otherwise you have to wait until late next year.

Yes, this is exactly the same period allowed for PR applications. I wonder if the local newspaper this information came from got the story screwed up? It would be unusual for a major shift in immigration policy to be announced first in Pattaya.

[danone]

If I undstand the permaneant residency there are only 100 a year issued, is that correct?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

incorrect - there is a quota of 100 per nation. but that quota only gets reached by chinese and indian nationals.

of most nations not even 100 people apply.

a dozen or so per nation finally get the blue residency certificate

[lukamar]

Thanks for the address..

I'm going to write him a letter and if the seven and a half thousand others that have viewed this thread write as well, our views may be looked at in a different light.

From what I have read here, we as a whole do not want anything different than what a Thai citizen would get in one of our countries. We would settle for a lot less and be very happy. We don't want special privileges, special laws or fast tracking , we just want a bit of security for ourselves and our families for the future.

If you are serious about your future position in Thailand and not just blowing smoke. Then send him a letter politely outlining the changes to Thai Immigration Policy that you personally would like to see implemented and what it would mean to you and your family. Sending a copy to the Head of state of your country and making it known to Mr. Shinawatra as well, may bring some added interest from foreign immigration agencies. Remember that we only have to have one head of state mention something to have our views taken very seriously. ie:- in my case....

cc:

The Right Honourable Paul Martin

Office of the Prime Minister

80 Wellington Street

Ottawa

K1A 0A2

If we all work together we should be able to see some movement in Immigration policy by exerting a bit of pressure.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Thanks for the address..

I'm going to write him a letter and if the seven and a half thousand others that have viewed this thread write as well, our views may be looked at in a different light.   

From what I have read here, we as a whole do not want anything different than what a Thai citizen would get in one of our countries.  We would settle for a lot less and be very happy. We don't want special privileges, special laws or fast tracking , we just want a bit of security for ourselves and our families for the future. 

If you are serious about your future position in Thailand and not just blowing smoke.  Then send him a letter politely outlining the changes to Thai Immigration Policy that you personally would like to see implemented and what it would mean to you and your family.  Sending a copy to the Head of state of your country and making it known to Mr. Shinawatra as well,  may bring some added interest from foreign immigration agencies.  Remember that we only have to have one head of state mention something to have our views taken very seriously. ie:- in my case....

cc:

The Right Honourable Paul Martin

Office of the Prime Minister

80 Wellington Street

Ottawa

K1A 0A2

If we all work together we should be able to see some movement in Immigration policy by exerting a bit of pressure.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The PM will never see a single letter. The minions will file 'em in that circular filing cabinet by the officers left leg.

[lukamar]

The PM will never see a single letter. The minions will file 'em in that circular filing cabinet by the officers left leg.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's probably exactly what will happen.... But you never know until you try.

A few months back I had a problem with a major US Company. I emailed the CEO on Saturday night out of frustration with their system. On Sunday he personally contacted me and their system has now been changed for the better.

You never know what you can achieve until you try.

[raro]

Sorry guys, but please don't shoot the messenger....

I was also quite excited about the 5 year visa and instantly called my lawyer. He checked with his (good) contacts at Suan Plu and in fact, they have never heard about it, saying that most likely Khun Ittipol has been misquoted...

Before getting half of the expat community in excitement, I would appreciate to doublecheck informtion like that before publishing. This applies also to the Pattaya Today.

[Axel]

Before getting half of the expat community in excitement, I would appreciate to doublecheck informtion like that before publishing. This applies also to the Pattaya Today.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So far same result when talking yesterday to BKJK immigration. As said,wait and see or wait for George:

I believe you spoked to the people at the wrong division at Suan Pluh (resident section). The question should instead be asked to the people actually working with extensions of Non-Immigrant visas. I have got inside information that more information will be available next week. Fingers crossed!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[dr_Pat_Pong]

The PM will never see a single letter. The minions will file 'em in that circular filing cabinet by the officers left leg.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's probably exactly what will happen.... But you never know until you try.

A few months back I had a problem with a major US Company. I emailed the CEO on Saturday night out of frustration with their system. On Sunday he personally contacted me and their system has now been changed for the better.

You never know what you can achieve until you try.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's worth a try. Good luck.

[mbkudu]

The PM will never see a single letter. The minions will file 'em in that circular filing cabinet by the officers left leg.

That's probably exactly what will happen.... But you never know until you try.

A few months back I had a problem with a major US Company. I emailed the CEO on Saturday night out of frustration with their system. On Sunday he personally contacted me and their system has now been changed for the better.

You never know what you can achieve until you try.

It's worth a try. Good luck.

Sorry this is off subject but, I have noticed from a suggestion given to me, that hand written letters sent by post are the most effective means for lodging complaints. Not Word Perfect, no emails, just hand written on white paper. It shows a persoanal side to the sender and effort put out which is well received by most in power or authority. Technology may be the wave of the future, but it has limitations and should not be completely substituted by direct human contact.

Edited December 18, 2004 by mbkudu

[Artisi]

among the 7000+ who have read this thread - there must be someone who can put together a nice letter we could all "hand write" to the PM setting out what could be reasonable conditions for permanent residency. It needs to be realisitic based on similar rules other countries use.